Interview: Shangela and costume designer Diego Montoya talk out and proud examples of visibility in HBO’s ‘We’re Here’ [VIDEO]

On HBO’s We’re Here (think To Wong Foo meets Queer Eye), three queens of Drag Race royalty – Shangela Laquifa Wadley, Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka – descend on Smalltown USA to give one or more of its denizens not just a makeover but so much more.

Each week of the 6-episode series, which is available to stream on HBO GO, HBO NOW, and on HBO via HBO Max, finds the queens and their teams turning shy boys, devastated moms, local queens and strong allies into confident performers. Working with the community and families, they bring joy and love and empathy as they set upon creating a one-night only drag show experience of a lifetime.

I spoke to Shangela (and got an exclusive look at her new ‘do!) and costume designer Diego Montoya (who designed Shangela’s A Star Is Born London premiere and Oscar dresses) about the difficulties and rewards of putting together elaborate shows in short time, how they’re managing during the pandemic (Diego is in NYC, Shangela is back home in Paris, Texas), being a stage mom and how We’re Here is the perfect centerpiece for Pride Month and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Shangela (aka D.J. Pierce) also started Feed the Queens, an inclusive initiative which helps fight hunger in the drag community during these especially uncertain times.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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